We have recently learned that when the latest sanctions against Iran, signed by the president, go into effect we will no longer be able to get rugs from Iran. This will obviously force us to close. We are hoping to be able to receive one more shipment of rugs in the middle of September before the deadline which is the 28th of September. This will probably be the last.
Dodd and I strongly disagree with this new policy towards Iranian rugs. We believe that business relationships between Americans and Iranians encourages cooperation and ensures that we hold mutual interests of maintaining peace. We now know that the sanctions against Iraq punished the people of Iraq while further entrenching Saddam’s regime. Our country is the only one in the world to sanction Iranian rugs and it is not a part of the U.N. sanctions.
We have expressed our views to our political leaders but are not very hopeful of changing the outcome. We would appreciate anyone who wants to email their representatives on our behalf if only to have it on the public record. Below is what I wrote to Nancy Pelosi:
Dear Ms. Pelosi,
I would like to inform you that the newest sanctions against Iran would remove the exemption on rugs that have been allowed since 1999 and threatens small businesses like ours across the U.S. As a constituent who voted for you and President Obama I am writing to make an appeal to the administration with respect to keeping the exemption for rugs. I have a very successful and beloved felt rug store in San Francisco. My husband and I have revitalized an ancient felt rug tradition from Central Asia and the workshop that supplies our store is in Iran. It is the only one in the world. Thus, these new sanctions, if adopted as is, would effectively put us out of business. At a time when there are so few jobs it seems amazingly wasteful to prevent us from continuing our business. Our customers, overwhelmingly Obama voters, are shocked that our administration would take such drastic measures that seem counterproductive to our national security goals. I would also like to direct you to a Clinton administration opinion on similar sanctions proposed in 1997. Here is a link http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative_sap_105-1_hr2709-h
To paraphrase, the administration threatened to veto the legislation based on their belief that such broad sanctions could actually harm the U.S.’ ability to prevent Iran from developing weapons by making it difficult for other countries to cooperate with us.
This is our website: peaceindustry.com
Thank you, Melina
Dear Ms. Pelosi,
I would like to inform you that the newest sanctions against Iran would remove the exemption on rugs that have been allowed since 1999 and threatens small businesses like ours across the U.S. As a constituent who voted for you and President Obama I am writing to make an appeal to the administration with respect to keeping the exemption for rugs. I have a very successful and beloved felt rug store in San Francisco. My husband and I have revitalized an ancient felt rug tradition from Central Asia and the workshop that supplies our store is in Iran. It is the only one in the world. Thus, these new sanctions, if adopted as is, would effectively put us out of business. At a time when there are so few jobs it seems amazingly wasteful to prevent us from continuing our business. Our customers, overwhelmingly Obama voters, are shocked that our administration would take such drastic measures that seem counterproductive to our national security goals. I would also like to direct you to a Clinton administration opinion on similar sanctions proposed in 1997. Here is a link http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative_sap_105-1_hr2709-hTo paraphrase, the administration threatened to veto the legislation based on their belief that such broad sanctions could actually harm the U.S.’ ability to prevent Iran from developing weapons by making it difficult for other countries to cooperate with us. This is our website: peaceindustry.com. Thank you, Melina
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